By Ravinder Singh Robin - Daily India - Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.Sunday, October 14, 2007
Hundreds of fans of late legendry Sufi singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan celebrated the Pakistani singer's birthday amidst a big gathering in Punjab's Moga District.
On Saturday, Nusrat's fans cut a birthday cake and sang his Sufi numbers as a gesture to pay their heartfelt tributes to the erstwhile 'King of Sufi Music'.
Congregating in various groups, the fans dedicated the day remembering the maestro singer by singing his famous Qawwalis. Sandeep Singh, one of Fateh Ali Khan's fans, said that it took him a long time to understand the maestro's message that he gave in his rendition.
"In 1995, I had a collection of over 50 cassettes of the maestro and shopkeepers used to come to me for cassettes. I thought that there must be something special about him. Then onwards, I started collecting his compositions, and till date, I have over 300 cassettes. I have his complete collection of over 400 versions. I invested nearly one-and-a-half lakh rupees [USD 3,816.-] for this collection," said Sandeep Singh.
The fans said the late Sufi singer had put his soul in all of his compositions. Despite the legendary singer being no more alive to please his millions of fans, lovers of classical and devotional music still remember him.
Another fan recalled that even after his death, Fateh Ali Khan continues to be an inspiration for the young generation with his soulful voice very much in contrast to the cacophonic music of the present days.
"The new generation is going far from the Sufi singing. This singing had a lot of peace and soul. The music today is not of much use and decreased to a great extent, in terms of quality and content. He remains an inspiration for all of us," said Baljinder Singh, another fan.
Born in Faisalabad, Pakistan on October 13, 1948 to Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, a distinguished musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwali performer, Nusart Fateh Ali Khan showed an aptitude and interest in Qawwali.
Initially, his family members did not want him to take up the music profession and wanted him to become a doctor. But his keenness for music made his family relent.
[Links for more, for listening and lyrics: http://nusrat.info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusrat_Fateh_Ali_Khan
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/nusratfatehalikhannfakclub/
Picture from: http://tinyurl.com/38zvyk ].
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1 comment:
There are many of his songs on YouTube also :) Just put his name in a search phrase on Google with the words YouTube and they will come up. He is really remarkable for the passion he puts into his singing, and the gestures he uses, as if he were whirling to the music while sitting down.
Ya Haqq!
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